Lion is full of new features and interface improvements. Snow Leopard was, by Apple’s own admission, an evolutionary update meant to fine-tune existing technologies more than reinvent, or even invent. Lion is more about reinvention and the ongoing move to make Mac OS more like iOS. Here are three of the many advances.
I’m a huge fan of Spotlight, and Tech Tails #683 includes some advanced Spotlight features. These features remain, but Spotlight improves the search experience by showing a preview to the left of the highlighted item in the results menu. Go ahead and search for a JPG photo, and hover your mouse over a result. You’ll see a preview of the image. Pretty nifty. This works for many file formats.
Finder is due for a complete re-think if you ask me. It’s remained largely the same since the original Macintosh, with evolutionary changes along the way. I don’t have the answers, but this slick new feature lets you select a group of files and place them all in a new folder. Simply locate a folder with items that should be consolidated, and highlight them by command-clicking on each item. Alternatively, you can select a group of files that appear consecutively in a window, click on the top item and then shift-click on the last item. With your items highlighted, two-finger tap on your trackpad (or right-click with your mouse) and select “New Folder with Selection.”
Full-screen app viewing is a welcome reprieve from the visual clutter we’ve gradually had to accept. It’s like an extension of Safari Reader that works with any program that supports Lion’s full-screen mode. These programs live in their own Space once you put them in full screen mode, so you can just swipe your trackpad left or right with three fingers. The visual effect is just like Safari’s new back and forward animation, and its visual simplicity is appreciated. Even better, it works very smoothly on an entry-level 2009 MacBook, so even somewhat older hardware will support it in a satisfying way without jerkiness. If you happen to notice jerkiness in the animation, look into upgrading your RAM for immediate improvement system wide.